The Xianbei people are the most important kind of nomadic people in northern China, they have established 11 regimes in history, the longest time, and they are also the nomads who have the greatest influence on China during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.
Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Xianbei people of the Xianbei tribe occupied the grasslands in the north after driving out the Xiongnu. Then, they established the Murong Yan Kingdom, the Western Qin Dynasty, the Southern Liang Kingdom, and the Dai Kingdom, and finally established the Tuoba Northern Wei Dynasty, realizing the unification of the north.
The Xianbei people are an important northern ethnic group in history, they once dominated the north, but as time passed, the Xianbei people continued to weaken and eventually integrate into other ethnic groups.
So, are there still descendants of the Xianbei people? Which ethnic groups may have Xianbei genes? In fact, the Xianbei people are not a single ethnic group, but a general term for multiple ethnic groups that use the same culture from multiple sources.
The earliest Xianbei people originated in Northeast China, and they formed a unique Xianbei culture in a unique geographical environment. Although the Xianbei people have disappeared, their cultural influence continues and is present in some ethnic groups in modern times.
The source of the "Northeast Three" can be traced back to the great tribes of the Northeast during the Zhou Dynasty, among which Su Shen and Filthy existed in the form of tribal alliances, while Donghu absorbed the Central Plains culture due to its proximity to the Central Plains, developed rapidly, and even successfully defeated the Xiongnu who had not yet risen in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
By the end of the Qin Dynasty, some of the Qin people who had built the Great Wall and garrisoned the border in the Yuyang area could not bear the oppression, and began to move to the northeast, and finally integrated into the local Donghu people.
At the end of the Qin Dynasty, the Donghu had bullied the Xiongnu for a long time. However, the wheel of history rolled forward, and Mao Dunshan became the male lord of the Xiongnu tribe, he unified the Xiongnu tribes, established a powerful Xiongnu empire, and continued to expand to the north.
In desperation, they were forced to leave the Liaoning region, all the way north, across Sushen, and finally settled down in the harsh environment of the Great Xing'an Mountains.
At the northern end of the Great Khing'an Mountains, there is a mountain range called Xianbei Mountain, while at the southern end there is a mountain called Wuhuan Mountain. The people who inhabited these two mountain ranges were renamed Xianbei and Wuhuan respectively.
As a result of this change, the name Dongdong Hu gradually disappeared in the history books, and was replaced by Xianbei and Wuhuan. Since then, the name of Xianbei people has officially appeared on the stage of history.
During the Western Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu and Xianbei were the two most striking ethnic groups. Although it is not mentioned in the history books"Donghu"This word, but it is still used by foreigners when studying the history of Northeast Asia"Donghu"The word, especially the Russians, will"Donghu"After being translated into Russian, it becomes a translation into Chinese"Tunguska"。
Although the name has changed, the history of the Xianbei people being enslaved by the Xiongnu still cannot be changed. Therefore, the Xianbei people once became slaves of the Xiongnu, following the Xiongnu to fight everywhere and invade the borders of the Han Dynasty.
However, the good days of the Xiongnu soon came to an end. First of all, during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Huo Qubing stole their spring water, which greatly damaged their vitality. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, they were the Southern Xiongnu and the Northern Xiongnu, the Southern Xiongnu submitted to the Han Dynasty, while the Northern Xiongnu continued to stay in Siberia, occasionally going south to rob.
Eventually, during the reign of Emperor Han He, Dou Xian united with the Southern Xiongnu to attack the Northern Xiongnu, resulting in the defeat of the Northern Xiongnu and their westward migration.
After the defeat of the Northern Xiongnu and the westward migration, the Southern Xiongnu sought to survive in the Hetao area, but this provided an opportunity for the Xianbei people. Finding the vast Mobei region uninhabited, they left the northeast and entered the Mongolian plateau, becoming the second major tribe after the Xiongnu.
Here, the Xianbei people not only occupied the old land of the Xiongnu, but also incorporated the 100,000 households left by the Northern Xiongnu, so their power expanded rapidly and became a veritable "nouveau riche".
This may also be the reason why some people believe that the Xianbei people are descendants of the Xiongnu.
The rise of the Xianbei people became a major problem on the northern frontier, and they frequently harassed the Han border like the Xiongnu. Although they had not yet formed a strong force, during the reign of Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty, the Xianbei people had a leader similar to Mao Dun Shan Yu, and his name was Tanshi Huai.
Like Mao Dun Shan Yu, Tanshi Huai unified the Xianbei tribe and established a more powerful Xianbei Empire than the Xiongnu Empire. The territory of the Xianbei Empire stretched from Jilin in the east, to eastern Kazakhstan in the west, to the Great Wall in the south, and to Lake Baikal in the north.
The Eastern Han Dynasty naturally would not sit idly by and watch the existence of such a powerful neighbor, so it united with the Xiongnu and Wuhuan to form a coalition to attack Xianbei. However, Tanshi Huai skillfully lured the enemy deep and then launched a surprise attack, which wiped out the entire coalition army.
This battle also made Tanshi Huai famous in one fell swoop, leaving the Eastern Han Dynasty with nothing to do. In the end, the Eastern Han Dynasty could only come up with the traditional peace and pro-big moves, but Tanshi Huai did not accept it, which made the Han Dynasty and Xianbei fall into a long-term hostile state, the same as the previous against the Xiongnu.
From Tanshi Huai to Kebineng, the unification of the Xianbei nation has never been interrupted, and Kebineng has once again realized the unification of Xianbei with its strong leadership, which has become a major problem for Cao Wei's northern henchmen.
However, Kebineng's death caused Xianbei to fall into **, and the Xianbei people were busy with infighting and could not go south to invade Cao Wei. And this ** also divided the Xianbei nation into a number of tribes, the most famous of which are the Murong clan, the Yuwen clan, the Duan clan, the Qifu clan, the Tuoba clan, the bald hair clan, the Tuyuhun clan and other tribes, and have established their own countries.
The Xianbei tribes established many regimes during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, including the Former Yan, Later Yan, Western Yan, and Southern Yan of the Murong clan, as well as the Western Qin of the Qifu clan, the Nanliang of the Bald Hair clan, the Daiguo of the Tuoba clan, and the Tuyuhun state of the Tuyuhun clan.
What Murong Fu wanted to restore was the Yan Kingdom during this period. During the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, the Xianbei tribal regimes were numerous and lasted the longest.
Although the Xianbei people established many political regimes, most of them were difficult to last, and only the Daiguo founded by the Tuoba clan and the Tuyuhun state founded by the Murong Tuyuhun clan lasted relatively long.
Eventually, the Wei state, which developed on the basis of the Dai State, unified the north and was known as the Northern Wei Dynasty in history, with its capital in Pingcheng. At this time, the main body of the Northern Wei Dynasty was located in the Central Plains, which was in sharp contrast to the Southern Dynasties in the south, and became the northern regime during the Northern and Southern Dynasties.
However, after the Northern Wei Dynasty moved south, the Xianbei Rouran tribe, which had originally occupied the Mongolian Plateau, took the opportunity to occupy the area north of the Great Wall and posed a threat to the Northern Wei Dynasty.
The early establishment period of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
Under the rule of Emperor Xiaowen, the Northern Wei Dynasty achieved the unification of the north. In order to better integrate into the Han culture, Emperor Xiaowen adopted a series of Sinicization reform measures, including changing the name of the Tuoba clan to Yuanshi, moving the capital to Luoyang, changing the Xianbei surname to the Han surname, using Chinese, wearing Hanfu, and intermarrying with the Han people.
These measures made the Northern Wei Dynasty a highly sinicized dynasty, and Emperor Xiaowen also won the title of "leader of the sinicization group of the Northern Wei Dynasty". Although the subsequent monarchs tried to restore the old customs of Xianbei, the trend of sinicization of the Xianbei people was unstoppable, and eventually the Xianbei people gradually disappeared.
Although there were still Xianbei surnames in the Sui and Tang dynasties, such as Changsun, Yuchi, Yuwen, Murong, Dugu, etc., who did not change their Han surnames, they no longer called themselves Xianbei people, but became part of the Han Guanlong aristocratic group.
Since then, the main body of the Xianbei people has been fully integrated into the Han nationality. However, there were remnant tribes of the Xianbei people, such as the Yuwen Xianbei people in the northeast, which later evolved into the famous Khitan and Kumoxi tribes.
After the merger of the Khitan and Kumoxi tribes, they became a powerful Liao state on the border of the Song Dynasty during the Song Dynasty. The Liaodong Xianbei evolved into the Murwei, and the Murwei gradually evolved into the Mongols.
Today, the Xibe and Daur ethnic groups in the northeast are also descendants of Xianbei.
A part of the Xianbei of the Murong clan formed the Tuyuhun in the northwest region, and they were deeply influenced by the Han culture, Tubo and other cultures, which were significantly different from the Xianbei culture in eastern Liaodong.
And Tuyuhun is the source of today's Tu people, so the Tu people can also be considered to be the descendants of the Xianbei people.
Among the descendants of the Xianbei people, the Han nationality occupies the dominant position, while the Khitan, Mongolian, Xibe, Daur and Tu ethnic groups occupy a secondary position.
The influence of the Xianbei people on Han culture is far-reaching, even surpassing that of other nomadic peoples. In the Sui and Tang dynasties, the integration of Han culture and Xianbei culture laid a solid foundation for the splendid Sui and Tang cultures.
The fusion of these Xianbei cultures with traditional Han cultures, including the Japanese pride of kimono, tea ceremony, flower arrangement, kendo, tatami mats, sliding doors and sashimi, has become the essence of Sui and Tang culture.
However, with the continuous development of Han culture, the Japanese did not keep up with the pace of learning and still eat on tatami mats, while we have already eaten on chairs and tables.